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DOUGALL, JOHN,
a learned miscellaneous writer, was a native of Kirkaldy, where his father
was the master of the grammar school. He studied for some time at the
university of Edinburgh, applying himself particularly to classical
literature, to mathematics, and to the acquirement of the modern languages
of Europe. He was afterwards employed as tutor and travelling companion,
in which capacity he made the tour of Europe. Subsequently he became
private secretary to General Melville. Ultimately he settled in London as
an author by profession, and translator of works from the French and
Italian languages. He died in 1822, in great indigence. He was the author
of:
Military
Adventures, 8vo.
The Modern
Preceptor, or a General Course of Polite Education. 1810, 2 vols. 8vo.
The Cabinet of
Arts, including Arithmetic, Geometry, and Chemistry, 2 vols. 8vo.
Espana Maritima,
or Spanish coasting Pilot, translated from the Spanish. London, 1813, 4to.
He also
contributed to various scientific and literary works, and for some years
he was employed, under the patronage of the late duke of York, in
preparing a new translation of Caesar’s Commentaries, with Notes and
Illustrations, which, however, he did not live to complete. |
